These bills will make Michigan one of the most regressive states in the nation in terms of women's health. Michigan. The friendly blue mitten is giving the people a slap in the face. Part of me can't believe it, but part of me believes it too well.

Mitt Romney must realize that he has lost the industrial Midwest because he's completely lost a grip on reality. He's decided to throw a Hail Mary pass that will cause his already-struggling campaign to implode in Ohio.

Now, Mitt Romney said in his economic speech today he's about "real change/big change" and the president, he says, is about "the status quo." But the growth of government spending is the lowest it's been in 60 years, since President Eisenhower.

Mitt Romney has the nerve to argue that his plan for the industry in his now-famous New York Times op-ed piece, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt," was the plan that the Obama administration eventually did: a managed bankruptcy.

You are at the epicenter of the political universe. What you're doing isn't just for your state -- it's for an entire nation and, frankly, the future of the world we all live in. The importance of your work cannot be overstated. No pressure.

Mr. President, when you walk on stage in the next debate I would like to hear you say that the choice is not just about whose tax plan you like or who has the better health care strategy. It's much more fundamental than that. This is a choice about our national character.

This past week, self-glorification trumped common national vision. The "I" conquered the "we." Next week Democrats have to boldly counter this anti-"we" zeal. We want you, Mr. President, to remind us that we are part of something bigger.

If you're outraged about Akin's comments, you should be outraged by the entire Republican establishment. But let's just start here and go one man at a time: if Akin is drummed from the Senate race, Ryan should go, too.

If you're staying at home because you're disgusted by the negative tone of the campaign; or you believe both sides run the same vile, lying, attack ads; or because you're turned off by politics: Congratulations, you are fulfilling someone else's agenda. You are following their plan to the letter.

She said this about public employees: "Government jobs, we're for losing government jobs." Well, guess what: Those NASA scientists hold government jobs. Officer Murphy has one of those awful government jobs. A huge number of nurses, teachers, and our soldiers are public employees.

Whether it's their Sharia law and birther conspiracies or their unwillingness to buck Grover Norquist's no-tax pledge, the Tea Partiers have hijacked their party and carried it all the way to the right.

Romney is taking advantage of the government's "free stuff," too, and has been profiting from it handsomely for a long, long time -- even as he rails about the "free stuff" that the government provides other people.

Sadly, the ads that the billionaires are buying work. Otherwise they wouldn't invest. And be clear, that's what this is. An investment, and billionaires know it's a wise investment. So imagine the return they expect on their massive investment in buying a president.